TOW It's Over
by FriendsFanfourever
Summary: The sad story of a family and how it broke up The relationship had been going downhill recently (by that she meant that past 3 years) between Ross and Rachel after they have married and had a few more kids. This is the story of how their marriage ended and how they pick up the pieces and move on with their lives Warning Violence (minor)
1. Chapter 1

_**The sad story of a family and how it broke up**_

 _ **Present Day:**_

"Hey Rachel, how's it going? You got dinner ready yet?" he barked as he slammed the door stumbling from his intoxicated afternoon. He had just been fired from the university due to broken policies such as favouritism of students and inappropriate behaviour

"No Ross not yet" she called back with a shocked expression on her face wondering what had happened "Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly with a look of concern spread across her face

The relationship had been going downhill recently (by that she meant that past 3 years) and there was nothing that they could do to stop it, they were just different people and it had been like this for years. They stayed together for the kids. It was sort of a like a pretend happy family's act. Rachel knew that Ross had been sleeping around and accepted it feeling lonely, trapped and isolated in her own marriage. It was like she was a doormat in her own home.

"Oh you didn't hear? I got fired from work today" he started to laugh manically "I mean I was probably the best professor there ever was!" he said becoming deranged then sat down and started banging the table "WE WANT FOOD!" and the kids thought it was funny joining in "WE WANT FOOD"

Rachel had a particularly difficult day at work dealing with rude customers and mounting workload with the recent layoffs. She sighed "It its almost ready, just a few more minutes" The daily grind was getting to her and she felt emotionless at the moment. Ross went to get another drink from the fridge and was disappointed to find out there was none left

"How hard is it to go grocery shopping?!" he shrieked and making fun of his wife "that's what you get kids when you don't graduate school"

Rachel was hurt but stuck up for herself "I in fact did graduate" she said with a plastic smile She got the dinner ready and placed it on the table

Ross took a bite into it and said, "It's rubbish, only kids would eat this" spitting it out and going to get a microwave meal from the freezer. He knew that he was being mean but after just getting fired taking his anger out on his wife felt good, he thought why not throw in some more emotional abuse "By the way Rachel I had a great evening yesterday with Tania" he winked so to make sure that she got the message.

"That's good Ross, glad you liked it" she was trying to keep her composure for the sake of the family.

As they finished dinner and settled in to watch whatever Ross wanted. She cleaned up after dinner, put the kids to bed and after a long day was emotionally drained.

"Rachel there is something that I have been hiding from you" he admitted "we have $600,000 in debt that I have kept hidden from you. I am struggling to meet payments as it is and you are going to have to help me out since it is our account" he sighed taking another swig from the bottle.

"Ross, how did you get in this mess?" she moved her arms around in anger and her voice rose.

"Don't you Ross me!" he got put and got into her face "You mean nothing to me! What we had is over,over!" he was becoming unchained and even more insane and he knew it. "You got us into this mess with your vacations, clothes,house,car etc missy" he then did something he regretted punching his wife in the face. His emotions got the best of him.

"I am sorry Rachel, please forgive me" his voice full of regret and he had an ashamed look on his face. He knew that he had crossed the line.

"Ross, how could you?" she sobbed with her eyes red of tears and a bruise below her right eye. It did not match her penguin pajamas she was wearing. Blood stains started blotting them. She felt betrayed after everything that she had done for Ross and this is how he repaid her?

"Ross get out, you don't deserve to live in this house, go to your sisters for the night and don't wake up the kids!" she pointed out the door giving him an icy glare

Ross slumbered out the door not looking back feeling awful knowing that he had crossed not just one but many lines that night, this might have been the straw that broke the camels back.

 **End of Chapter 1**

 **Authors note: Short chapter for now, gauging interest. Please let me know what you think, this is NOT a story for Ross and Rachel fans, please rate and review**


	2. Chapter 2

_**5 Years earlier:**_

They were living happily and it had been only 1 year since Rachel had gotten off the plane and they were living out in the suburbs after realizing that New York City was not a place that they wanted to raise a family. They had decided to move out to Long Island where they could get a yard and breathing room.

They had been looking at houses now for a few months now and it was hard to pick one, they had pulled up to a beautiful 1970s white house at the end of a cul-de-sac with a picket fence along the back. There were a couple of trees that rose along the back that gave privacy. The house was in relatively good shape with 3 bedrooms and 2 washrooms.

"Ross isn't this just beautiful? The yard that our kids can play in and kick the soccer ball around or play tag? She beamed looking at her husband who shared her enthusiasm.

"Yeah Rachel it looks great, I can definitely see us raising a family here and growing as a family. Plus, the commute time for us both will only be an hour each way." he replied back giving his wife a gentle hug to show his support.

They ended up purchasing it for $950,000 which was $100,000 over budget but times were good and the banks were more then willing to offer the loan money at higher interest rates then normal. Ross and Rachel thought that they could more then handle it with their salaries as Ross was a tenured professor and Rachel was a rising star at Ralph Lauren. They moved in and invited the whole friend group over for dinner to celebrate in their new house.

"So, this is it then? No one is in New York anymore" Joey remarked with a sigh as he reminisced about the times they had. "Although I have to admit that it is going to be nice when Uncle Joey comes for visits to play with the little one in the back, we can play tag, hide and seek and even soccer" he smiled at the thought

"Yeah living in New York was nice but it was just too crowded to raise a family" Chandler told his side of the story. "Me and Monica have been enjoying it with Jack and Erica are really enjoying school. The systems are so much better out here. It could not be any better"

"Well I think that it is great that you moved out here, the house is very clean" Monica admired "See Rachel you have learned something by living with me all those years, looks like my cleaning obsession rub off on you" she teased "My house is probably still cleaner though" always the competitive one she was.

"Well I think it is just great that you moved out here, even if the environmental footprint is worse. The air is cleaner" Phoebe said, she had joined a new cause of environmentalism. It seemed like some new cause with her every week

"Pheebs maybe not here, lets just enjoy the night and not overthink things." Mike shot her a look trying to tell her to be polite. He got embarrassed easily though and was happy Phoebe was speaking her mind.

"Rachel honey this is amazing food, the chicken parm is superb. The sauce has a great tang but is not overpowering and the chicken is so juicy. I don't know what I would do without you" Ross smiled lovingly at his wife and blew her a kiss. He wanted her to feel appreciated

"Thanks Ross" Rachel blushed back at him, she did not like the spotlight but had a surprise up her sleeve. Tapping her glass, she stood up.

"I am glad that we can all meet up tonight it is so nice to see you guys especially as we all grow up into our 30s it is harder to hang out like we used too. Me and Ross not only invited you tonight to celebrate the new house but we also have some important news." She cleared her throat and put her glass down. "I am pregnant!" she smiled and everyone smiled back at her with genuine happiness and chiming in their congratulations.

"I KNEW it!" Chandler pointed at Monica "Give me $20 you owe me, that's why she wasn't drinking" he got up in excitement doing a happy dance while Monica rolled her eyes and got out her wallet.

"Do you know the gender?" Mike asked

"Yeah it is a boy" Ross and Rachel said in unison struggling to contain their excitement

"So I guess Princess Consuela BananaHammock is off the table then" Phoebe giggled at the thought remembering that time she wanted to change her name.

After dinner they all headed home heading their separate ways, their next meeting was going to be thanksgiving. The year flew by and Rachel gave birth to a boy they decided to name Connor, after Connor was born they finished remodeling the house and were settling to their new house. Then the economy crashed sending house prices crashing leaving Ross and Rachel barely above water, it was a stressful time their payments on the house went up reflecting the risker asset since they had done it through a third-party (non-bank) lender.

Rachel had taken a second night job and Ross was teaching more classes at the university and with a baby and young daughter it was lots of running around town and little down time, they were looking forward to the thanksgiving break to spend time with family and catch a breather. They were going to Monica and Chandler's house.

"Hey guys come on in" Monica greeted them as they entered the house, the aromas of turkey filling the house. She was wearing a New York Jets apron that Chandler had bought for her birthday.

"Thanks Monica, although I have to disagree with the apron choice, Giants all the way" Ross teased when giving her a hug.

"This must be Connor, hi buddy" Chandler said waving his hand. "This is your uncle chandler, the one that is funny" The baby started crying in Rachel's arms causing Monica to quip "Not so funny are you?"

"Where is everyone?" Rachel asked noticing that the house was quiet. She took off her sunglasses and put her coat on the rack. Trying to keep the baby quiet by rocking it back and forth

"They are on there way they are just caught in traffic, you know how it is these days" Chandler said

Everyone soon arrived and they started to chow down on the delicious feast that Monica had made

"I have to admit Monica that you are probably one of the better chefs in New York area, everything is so tasty!" Joey remarked

"Thanks Joey glad you liked it, you are probably not going to share it though with your girlfriend?" Monica teased knowing the history of Joey and sharing food.

They decided to have the Geller Cup again that year, it had become a tradition in the Geller household to have a football game on thanksgiving and the tradition continued with the new generation. The teams were Team Monica Versus Team Ross. Rachel. Ross, Phoebe and Mike versus Chandler, Monica and Joey. The game started and was intensely competitive with the score in the 4th quarter being 24-17 for team Monica.

The final play had team Ross just needing to get a touchdown, they decided to do a throwing play. Ross was quarterback.

"Hut" Ross roared as he got the football

"Open!" Rachel shouted as there was no coverage since she was the weakest player.

Ross ended throwing the ball in Rachel's direction but Rachel ended up dropping the ball and costing her team the game.

"No! How could you drop that Rachel, you cost us the game, nice going" Ross said in anger clutching his hand in shock and disgust. He could just not believe that Rachel had dropped the ball. But he soon got over it

"Sorry for the freak out Rachel, I just get emotionally invested in these games a bit too much" he looked embarrassed.

"Its okay Ross I forgive you" but the truth was that she was worried that this was becoming a trend with Ross having more emotional outbursts more frequently these days. It was emotionally taxing on her but she knew that she needed to keep a strong front at the moment.

It was only the beginning of their troubles that they would experience


	3. Chapter 3

_**3 Years Prior:**_

Ever since the thanksgiving incident from a few years prior it had seemed like they were drifting apart from each other. He had been spending more time at the university and when he would get home it seemed like the tension was in the air building and was depressed around the house. Money was tight as they were both working 2 jobs to make ends meet. They for some reason could not communicate their problems to each other

"So how was your day Ross?" she was trying to provoke a response. She was still wearing her restaurant uniform with her Ralph Lauren bag at the kitchen table

"It was good, I guess. Lots of papers to mark" Ross said with a glum look stabbing his food with his fork in an aggressive manner

"Can we go to a baseball game this weekend?" Emma asked, recently she had been getting into baseball and was playing for the local team. She was a Mets fan.

"Sure, Emma that would be a great idea, let's go play catch outside so we can prepare you for the big game" Ross said his mood changing suddenly becoming happy.

"Ross can I talk to you in the kitchen before you head outside?" she motioned him to keep quiet

"What's up Rach?" he seemed like he wanted to be anywhere and was becoming visible annoyed.

"As much as it would be fun to go to the Met's game on the weekend can we really afford it? We got a mortgage payment, bills and the car needs to be fixed? The Met's game will cost at least an extra $100" she sighed feeling frustrated knowing that it would be a fun outing.

"Come on Rachel stop being so stressed loosen up a bit" he chided her, "I am going outside now to play with Emma can you clean up? Also, Connor needs his nap" he said, to her it seemed like she was being ordered around and she did have a valid concern, but Ross wanted to be the fun parent so be it.

She put Connor to bed and started cleaning up the dishes while looking longingly out the window waving to her husband and daughter with a smile on her face enjoying the time spent with her father.

After they came inside due to a passing rainstorm they decided to watch TV. Rachel was already watching the Bachelorette when Ross grabbed the remote and changed the channel to the ball game.

"Hey Ross, I was just going to finish that episode, there was only 10 minutes left" she complained crossing her arms.

"I am not allowing my daughter to be exposed to that trash show, besides this is the Mets vs the Yankees. It is an important game but not that you would understand." He talked down to her

She despised being talked down to and belittled by Ross who thought he was always on the moral high ground and holier than thru attitude he had lately. Must of because he was a tenured professor she thought. As the ball game continued Ross presented a idea.

"Hey Rachel, we should spend the night in New York for the night and then drive back the next day, what do you think it will be fun? We can visit Aunt and Uncle Phoebe and Mike. Emma can visit her cousins. What do you think?"

Emma squealed "Yeah" she always had fun in New York and got along well with her cousins.

"Yeah that might be a good idea Ross, maybe we can have date night or something. Lord knows it has been a while" Rachel smiled realizing that this could turn out to be a fun outing after all, sure it would be expensive but we all need to treat ourselves, sometimes right?

The rest of the week flew by and before they knew it they had their items packed up for the weekend, the baby in his crib and the car all loaded up. The baseball game was in the afternoon and what a day it was, not a cloud in the sky a perfectly sunny day. The type of day that was perfect for baseball. As they drove down the expressway Rachel could not feel better and felt like it was going to be a great time.

The arrived at the stadium and were grabbed some lunch and got into their seats. The game was a thrilling one with the Mets eventually beating the Yankees 4-3 in extra innings off of a home run. Ross and Rachel were getting along great with Ross even teaching Rachel a bit about the game with Emma helping as well to show her mom all the rules and regulations. After they drove into the city to drop off Connor and Emma at Mike and Phoebe's.

"Hey guys" Phoebe beamed motioning them to enter.

"Thanks so much for looking after the kids, we appreciate it" Ross smiled

"Not a problem, we can't promise they'll be musicians when they leave but we will try" Mike joked since him and Phoebe had a background in music both co-owing a music bar in the city.

"I am just going to change for our dinner tonight, see you at 7 at Luigi's" Rachel kissed Ross on the cheek and blushed forgetting where she was when the kids replied "Ew!" but it was not a big deal with Phoebe laughing.

Rachel closed the bathroom door and put on her black dress that probably showed off more cleavage then was necessary but she wanted tonight to be a spark in their marriage that seemed to have gone stale lately. Ross had gone to the university to grab some things and change into a tux so they were going to meet at the restaurant.

She then spent some time with Phoebe and Mike before heading off to the restaurant. They had specially reserved a table to make sure that they did not have to wait. Rachel got there earlier but soon it was 7:30 and no signs of Ross. She quickly sent him a text but got no response.

"Hi, would you like some more wine? Are you waiting for someone?" the waiter asked while pouring some more wine into Rachel's glass

"Thanks, and yeah I am waiting for my husband but not sure where he is, probably caught in traffic" trying to make small talk with the waiter.

Soon it was 8 then 8:30 and with no reply from Ross she decided to leave, bitter and disappointed that Ross would not show, she felt hurt that he stood her up. So much for the spark. As she was walking back to the hotel she decided to get off on the university stop to check and see if Ross was still there.

To her surprise when she entered the office there were papers scattered everywhere but no sign of Ross or anyone else. She then walked by the labs and was mortified at what she saw through the glass. There was her husband with a much younger woman making out on a lab table. She quickly ran out in tears and hurried onto the subway with strangers asking if she was alright.

"Yeah, I am fine, just have a leg cramp that hurts" was her reply even though her face betrayed her. The visible hurt on her face and red puffy eyes gave it all away. She finally got back to the hotel room and slammed the door. Punching in the phone number for Phoebe house.

"Hello Phoebe?" she sniffled blowing her nose as the tears came streaming down as her face was red as a tomato from the utter disbelief

"Hi Rachel how's it going, did the Mets win the baseball game?" Phoebe questioned

"It could not be any worse Pheebs, First Ross stood me up at the restaurant so then on the way back I decided to check out his office. The papers were everywhere strewn about the area so I walked by the lab and what do I see in the glass? Ross and his mistres G! They did not even notice me." She let out a laugh at the pathetic memory

"Oh Rachel I am so sorry, that Is awful, were you sure it was Ross?" trying to reassure her friend

"Yeah, who else wears a t-rex dinosaur shirt at our age?" She teased while trying to muzzle her whimpers and prevent a mental breakdown.


End file.
